In the food preparation industry the visual appearance of a food is often dictated by the consistency of the food itself. For example, if the food is rigid or frangible it will not lend itself to being formed into other shapes; on the other hand, if the food is gelatinous, it may be freely molded into attractive or useful shapes for presentation puposes. Ground beef is one such food product that has been traditionally formed into shapes like flat patties, such as hamburgers, or spheres, such as meatballs.
As is well known, meatballs are round. Webster's dictionary defines meatball as "a small ball of chopped or ground meat often mixed with bread crumbs and spices." Webster's dictionary also defines ball as "a round or roundish body or mass; a spherical or ovoid body used in a game or sport." One problem immediately apparent to the spherical shaped food article is its propensity to roll away from the preparer or consumer. Because the spherical article may roll with little applied force, it is subject to spillage and product loss during preparation and consumption.
As is well known, the current commercial production of meatballs involves a process of forming a round uncooked meatball, with a uniform weight and diameter, and finally into a cooked round meatball. The uncooked ball is typically cooked at a particular temperature, then frozen for shipment to various distributors and commercial establishments.
As is also well known, meatballs are typically used in a variety of food products such as pasta dishes and grinders, hero or submarine sandwiches. As is known, when utilizing the traditional "round" meatball, there is a tendency for the finished sandwich to allow the meatball, when being prepared or consumed, to fall out of the sandwich. Thus, it is quite common for the end retailer to slice the meatball in half in order to prevent the spillage or "rolling out" of the meatball from the finished food product. Also, a meatball sandwich made with the traditional round meatballs tends to have a higher profile and can be difficult to eat because it does not fit easily into the consumer's mouth. For this reason, the meatball sandwich is not a desirable sandwich for some people.
One problem encountered in the food preparation art especially in the context of a fast food restaurant, is that the slicing of a spherical product, such as a meatball, may result in injury to the preparer. The labor saved in not splitting the meatball results in both a cost savings in labor and faster customer service.
What is needed is an economical method of continuously producing a low profile meatball that will resist slippage and fit easily into a consumers mouth